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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Benefits of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in an Asynchronous Heart Failure Model Induced by Left Bundle Branch Ablation and Rapid Pacing

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Published on: December 11, 2017

Laughter-induced left bundle branch block.

Grant V Chow¹, Dipan Desai, David D Spragg

¹Department of Medicine and Division of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. gchow2@jhmi.edu

Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology

|April 13, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Laughter can induce left bundle branch block (LBBB) in patients with ischemic heart disease. Treating the underlying ischemia resolved the LBBB episodes, suggesting a link between transient ischemia and laughter-induced heart rhythm changes.

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Area of Science:

Cardiology
Electrophysiology
Ischemic Heart Disease

Background:

Ischemic heart disease poses significant cardiovascular risks.
Left bundle branch block (LBBB) can be a marker of underlying cardiac pathology.
Triggers for transient arrhythmias are not fully understood.

Observation:

A patient with ischemic heart disease experienced recurrent, laughter-induced left bundle branch block.
The LBBB episodes were consistently reproducible following laughter.
Elevated intrathoracic pressure during laughter was hypothesized as a contributing factor.

Findings:

Successful treatment of ischemic heart disease with a drug-eluting stent was performed.
Post-intervention, no further episodes of laughter-induced LBBB were observed.
This suggests transient ischemia, worsened by increased intrathoracic pressure, may precipitate LBBB.

Implications:

Laughter can be an unusual trigger for cardiac events in susceptible individuals.
Identifying and treating underlying ischemia is crucial for managing such phenomena.
This case highlights the complex interplay between physiological stressors and cardiac electrical stability.